Rachael Rollins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rachael Rollins
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Official portrait, 2022
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| United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 10, 2022 – May 19, 2023 |
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| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Andrew Lelling |
| Succeeded by | Joshua S. Levy |
| District Attorney of Suffolk County | |
| In office January 2, 2019 – January 10, 2022 |
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| Preceded by | John Pappas |
| Succeeded by | Kevin R. Hayden |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 3, 1971 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | University of Massachusetts, Amherst (BA) Northeastern University (JD) Georgetown University (LLM) |
Rachael Splaine Rollins (born March 3, 1971) is an American lawyer. She served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 2022 to 2023. A U.S. Attorney is the main lawyer for the U.S. government in their district. Before that, she was the district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
In 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Rollins to become the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. The United States Senate approved her after a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris. Rollins is known for supporting changes to the justice system, often called criminal justice reform.
She left her job in May 2023 after an investigation found she had broken several ethics rules. The investigation showed she had shared private government information and tried to help a political friend win an election.
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Early Life and School
Rachael Rollins was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up mostly in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the oldest of five children. Her father was a teacher, and her mother's parents came to the U.S. from Barbados.
Rollins went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst for her first degree. She then earned a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law. She also received a special law degree in labor law from Georgetown University Law Center.
Legal Career
Rollins started her career working for a judge at the Massachusetts Appeals Court. From 1999 to 2002, she was a lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board, a government agency that protects workers' rights.
Later, she worked as a lawyer for a large law firm in Boston. From 2007 to 2011, she was an assistant United States attorney, representing the U.S. government in court. She also worked as the top lawyer for Massachusetts's transportation departments, including the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).
District Attorney of Suffolk County
A district attorney, or DA, is a lawyer who represents the government in criminal cases in a specific county.
Winning the Election
In 2018, Rollins ran for District Attorney of Suffolk County. During her campaign, she promised to change how certain smaller crimes were handled. She wanted to focus on more serious issues instead of sending people to jail for minor offenses like shoplifting or vandalism.
She won the Democratic primary election and then the main election with 80% of the vote. She started the job on January 2, 2019.
Time in Office
As DA, Rollins created new rules for her office. One rule was that prosecutors had to visit jails to better understand the justice system. A study by several universities found that her new policies for minor crimes did not cause more crime. In fact, it made it less likely for people who committed small offenses to get into trouble again.
Rollins also had strong opinions on cash bail. Cash bail is money a person pays to get out of jail while they wait for their trial. She often argued against using cash bail just because someone could not afford to pay. However, she also raised concerns when a group called the Massachusetts Bail Fund paid for the release of people accused of serious crimes. This led to a debate about how to keep communities safe while also being fair to people who are arrested.
U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts
Getting the Job
In 2021, President Joe Biden chose Rollins to be the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. Some Republican senators, like Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, opposed her. They were worried about her plans not to prosecute certain crimes.
Because the senators were split, her nomination was stuck. In December 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris had to cast a tie-breaking vote to approve her. Rollins was officially sworn in on January 10, 2022.
Ethics Investigation and Resignation
In 2022, the United States Department of Justice began an ethics investigation into Rollins. This means they looked into whether she had followed the rules for government employees.
A long report from the investigation accused Rollins of serious misconduct. It said she gave private information to a reporter to try and hurt the campaign of a political rival. It also said she accepted expensive gifts, like sports tickets and a vacation, which is against the rules. The report concluded that she had not been truthful with investigators when asked about these things.
Another government watchdog group, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, also investigated her. They found she broke a law called the Hatch Act, which stops government workers from using their job to influence politics. The head of the agency called her actions some of the worst violations they had ever seen.
Because of these findings, Rollins resigned from her position as U.S. Attorney on May 19, 2023.
In early 2024, Rollins was briefly unable to practice law in Massachusetts because she had not paid her registration fees, but her license was restored in April. As of March 2024, she works at Roxbury Community College.
